Electrical connection.



J. M. ANDERSEN.

ELEGTRICAL GONNEGTION.

APPLIOATION FILED 111x119, 1910.

985,241 Patented Febfzs, 1911.

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mvww f/l/rll/lll//l/ll/l/lll/lllll/lll Il A? J. M. ANDERSEN.

ELECTRICAL CONNECTION.

APPLIOATION FILED 11110.19, 1910.

Patented Feb. 28, 1911.

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UNITED 'STATES yPATIENT OFFICE.

JOHAN M. ANDERSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGrN'OIR.- TO ALBERT AND J. ,M.

' ANDERSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY TION OF MAINE.

, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- ELECTRICAL CONNECTION.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, A28, 1911. i

Application i-led December 19, 1910. Serial No. 598,115.-

To all whom it may concern." l

Be it known that I, JOHAN M.,ANDE1 .sEN,' a citizen of the United. States, residing in Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvementin Electrical Connections, of which the following description, -in connection wit-h the, accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters `on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to an electrical connection comprising a socket member and a plug member adapted to be inserted into and removed from said socket member.A

The invention has for its object to provide an electrical connection of the class described, in which the contact members are `fully insulated from each other, are capable of being quickly and easily assembled or removed, and arsupported in their operative position in such manner as to avoid bending of the contacts b y the conductors, especially when a heavy cable is used, and which are protected from injury from external sources.

The invention further"has for its object to reduce the cost of construction and increase the life and usefulness of the apparatus.

These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the' claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal 'section on the line 1 1, Fig. 3, of the socket member of an electrical connection embodying this inven-l tion. Fig. 2, a like section on the line 2-2, Fig. 4, of the plug member. Fig. 3, a cross section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4, an end elevation of the member shown in'Fig. 2, and-F ig. 5, a detail to be referred. to.

The socket member of the electrical conf;` 'nection comprlses a metal cylinderor casing a, preferably of cast iron, provided at one end with a mouth b of the full diameter of the cylinder and at its opposite end with a mouth c of smaller diameter, said cylinder having in its rear end a longitudinally eX- tended slot d, which is extendedfor substantially one-half the length'of the cylinder a; as herein shown, and is provided with ears le, f, for` the reception of a clamping screw g', for a purpose as will described.

The cylinder a is provided at its top with means as ywill be described,lfor attachment to a support shown as a bracket-7L adapted to be secured in a fixed position.

Within the cylinder a are located two Contact members 10, l2, of brass' lor other suitable metal of good conductivity, which are concentrically= arranged and are insulated from each other and from the metal cylinder or casing a. The contact member l0 comprises as herein shown 'a cylinder,

. which is open at its front end and provided at its rear end with a head 13, and the contact member 12 comprises a bolt having a cylindrical head 14 located within the contact member 10 concentric therewith. The contact members 10, 12 are supported within the casing a; by an insulator comprising two parts or members of any suitable insulating material. Onemember of the inslulator is made as a disk 16 of substantial thickness, which fits snugly within thecontact member 10 and abuts against the head 1 3 of said member and is provided on one slde with a neck 0r projecting portion 18,

which is extended through a hole or open` ing in the head 13 of the contact member 10, and on its other side with a cylindrical extension 19, preferably made longer than the cylindrical portion of the contact members so as to form an effective barrier between the ends of said members. The cylinder 19 of insulating material is preferably provided with tapering inner and outer surfaces 20, 21, which extend from the rear toward the front end of the said cylinder, so as to leave spaces between said cylinder and the contact members 10, 12, whereby opportunity is provided for movement toward each other of the free ends of said members, said members being provided with one or more longitudinally extended slots 22, 23, to permit said movement. The other member of the insulator is made as a cylinder 24 provided intermediate its ends with a wall or partition 25, against one -end of which the head 13 of the contact member abuts and also the neck 18 of the disk 16, and through which the shank of the bolt 12 is extended. Within the opposite end of the cylinder 24 is located a terminal bar 27 provided with a terminal socket 28 and secured against the wall 25 by a nut 29 on the threaded end of the bolt 12, which serves to firmly secure the two parts of the insulator together as one piece, so that said i11-v y sulator may be assembled together with the lcontact members 10, 12, and terminals seing, fand, when thus positioned, it may be,

- secured in fixed relation to the casing a, by

gtudinal slot d.

the clamping screw 'or bolt g inserted through t'he holes in the ears e, f attached to the casing a. on opposite sides of the lon- By reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the two part insulator carrying the contact members may be quickly and easily inserted into and removed from vthe metal shell or casing a, and that the circuit wires 40, 41, can be soldered to t-he terminal sockets 28, 31,',outside of the casing or shell and the contact members secured in fixed relation to the insulator 24 by turning up the nut 29 n member. are secured to a twopart insulator v comprismg until the head 13 of the `contact member 10 bears against one'siide of the wall 25, after which the insulator andthe contact members may be drawn into the casing or shell, or the latter slipped over the insulator until the latter engages the shoulder formed-by the flange 33, at which time the clamping screw g may be turned to contract the rear end of the casing or shell and secure the insulatorin fixed position within the casing or shell.

' The casing or shell a has cooperating with its mouth b a cover 44,-which is pivoted to ears 45 and normally held closed by a plunger 46, acted upon by aspring 47 in a socket in-an enlargement o projection on the casing or shell, said enlargement having extended from it a pivot rod or armV 4 8 which extends through an opening in the cross bar 49 of the bracket k, said pivot arm being con nected with the said bracket by a pin 50,

' which rests upon a washer 51, which 1n turn rests on a'spring washer 52 supported bv the cross bar 49 of the bracket h. In this manner the socket member is swiveled to its supporting bracket. y

The socket member of the electrical connection has cooperating with it a plug mem- ,ber comprising contact members 55, 56,

which cooperate with the contact members of the socket member. The contact member 55 is made as a metal cylinder provided with a head 57, and the contact member 56 is made as a bolthaving a solid head and a i threadedshank 58. y The contact members 55, 56 of the plug a cylindrical'pmember 60, of i'n-A The intermediate sulating material having an intermediate wall 61 and a disk 62 provided with the projecting neck 63. The metal cylinder 55. is located in one end of the cylindrical member 60 and thetcontact member 56- is carried the disk 62 and has its shank 58 extend-A b ed through the intermediate wall Gland engaged by a nut 65. The cylindrical member 60 on the other side of the wall 61'contains 'the terminalA bar 66 having the terminal socket 67, and said bar is lsecuned'to. the said wall by the nut 65. The wall 61 forms-within the cylindrical member a' passage 68 for the reception of the terminal socket attached to the .head 57 of the contact member, 55. l .t

The two parts of the insulator for the plug member with the contact members and terminals carried by them, may be assembled together and the wires 71, 72 soldered to the terminals 67, 70 before the insulatoris .inserted into a cast iron or other metal casing 73, which has ldetachably secured `to 1t a hollow handle 74. In the present instance,

the metal casing 73 is provided atone end with screw-threads for engaging an internally threaded cylindrical portlon 74. of

the hollow handle, which is provided within it with a shoulder 75 against which the metal casing 73 and the insulator abut, (sce Fig. 2). The cylindrical portion 74of the hollow handle may and preferably wlll be provided with 'a longitudinally extended slot 76 and with ears 77 on opposite side walls of said slot, through which are extended a clamping screw Y hollow handle may be detachably clamped to the metal casing or shell 73.

The shank 58 of thel contact member 56 may have on it a' metal washer 80 to bear- 78, by means ofwhich the-v against the disk 62 of the insulator, and

against which the head ofthe contact mem-y ber bears when'the nut 65 1s set up.

`The'metal casing 73 may be provided at its outer. or free end with an inturned annular lip 81, which serves to protect Ithe outer end or edge of the cylindrical member 60 of the insulator.

The metal casing or shell 73 of the plug member is desi ed toenter the metal'casing or shell a o the socket member, and the thickness of the metal casing `or shell 73 plus that of the cylindrical member 60 .of the 1n; sulator and of the` contact member 55 are substantially equa-l to the width of the space between the metal shell a of the socket member and the contact member 10 thereof, so that a good sliding contact ,1s obtained between the contact membersl55, 10, and at `the same time, a substantially close fit is obtained between the metalshells or casings a, 73, whereby bending straln -upon the contact members of the plug and socket membersis avoided, which' enables a heavy cable 83 to be used without danger -of the4 weight of said cable tending to tilt the plug in its socket and thereby bend the contact-members thereof. Furthermore the hard metal casing 73 of the plug serves as a guide for the plug member, and enables the latter to bequickly inserted into the hard metal shell or casing of the socket member without danger of injuring the contact members of brass or other softer metal. So also the guiding and supporting metal casing of the plug member, serves to protect the in sulat-ion 60 within the same against chipplng or breaking when the plug member is dropped or falls to the floor or strikes a hard object. The contact members of the plug being located within the cylindrical member of the insulator, which in turn is located in the metal shell or casing 73, protects the plug from making an electrical contact with piping or other objects that the plug might beengaged with in handling the same.

Provision is made for anchoring the cable 83 within the plug, so that when strain is placed on the cable, the plug will be pulled out of the socket member without strain on the wires and terminals in the plug. To this end, the hollow handle 74 Aof the plug has located in it a hollow button 85 through which the cable is passed, said button being ,composed of two halves, having corrugations or biting projections 86 on their inner circumference to engage the cable. The two parts or halves of the button are connected together by screws 87, but are separatedfrom each other by a suliicient space to enable the -said halves to be adjusted toward each other by the said screws, so as to secure the button in fixed position on the cable, which position issuch. that a slight t ull on the cablewill bring the button into 'engagement with the rear end of the handle 74, and further pull upon the cable will be transmitted to the handle, so as to withdraw it from the socket member without imposing strain on the terminals of the plug to which the cable wires are soldered or other- `wlse secured.

The terminal sockets to which the circuit wires are soldered are detachably secured as by the screws. 90 91, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to their coperating contact members. This construction enables the wires to be soldered to the terminal sockets before the latter are connected with their coperating contact members, which avoids the danger of injury to the insulator carrying the contact members, if itv were attempted to solder the wires in the circuit terminals after the latter had been attached to the insulator.

1. In an electrical connection of the class described, in combination, a metal casing provided with an open end, an insulator located in said casing and composed of separable members, a cylindrical contact member having a head interposed between the members of said insulator, and a Contact member located in said cylindrical contact member and having a shank extended through both members of the said insulator, and means coperating with said shank to secure the members of the insulator together, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical connection of the class described, in combination, a metal casing provided with an open end, 1an insulator located in said casing and composed 0f a cylindrical member having a wall intermediate of its ends, and a disk member having a neck portion adjacent to said wall, a contact member interposed between said intermediate wall, and said disk member, and a second contact member having a shank extended through said disk, neck and intermediate wall, and a nut engaging said shank on the side of the intermediate wall opposite to the contact members, substantially as described.

coperating with the second contact member to secure the members of the insulator together, substantially as described.

4. In an electrical connection of the class described,v in combination, a -met-al casing provided with an open end, an insulator within said casing comprising a cylindrical member having a transversely extended wall, and a disk member, a contact member 'having a head interposed between said wall and disk member, and a second contact member having a shank portion extended through said disk member and said wall, and means coperating with said shank portion to se-A cure said msulator members together, substantially as described'. 5. In an electrical connection of the class described, in combination, a metal casing provided with an open end, an insulator within `.said casing comprising separable members, a contact member having a portion interposed between said members and extended toward the open end of said casing, a second contact member having a portion extended through both members of the insulator away from the open end of the casing,

'and means cooperating with said second contacts member to secure the members of the insulator together, substantially as described. 6'. ,In an electrical connection of the class described, inA combination, a metal casing provided with an open end, an insulator -within4 said easing comprising separable members, a contact member supported by vone member of said insulator, a second con-A tactfmember supported by the other member of said insulator, and'means coperating l vwith said second contact member to secure saidcasing and provided with a transversely f extended Wall,V avcylin'drical contact member having ahead engaging saidvvall, aninsulating member Within the' cylindrical contact member engaging the head of the said cont-act, member, a second contact member within the cylindrical contact memberL and having a shank portion extended through the insulating member within the cylindrical contact member and through said Wall, and

means cooperating with Saidshankportion to s ecure said second msul-atlng member to said wall,'substant1a11y as described.

described, in combination, a 'metal casing `provided with an' open end, an insulator .within said casing comprising separable members, a' contact member supported-by` one member of said insulator, aline terminal secured to said contact member, a second contact member supported by the other member 'of the insulator, a line terminal secured 'to said second Contact member, and means coperating with the second contact member to secure said contact members and incasing of substantially the lnternal diameter ofthe casing of the socket member to enter the latter -and provided Withlnit with aninsulator and contact members supported thereby to coperate with the contact members of the socket member, the metal casings of said plug and socket members coperating to prevent injury to the cooperating contact members by Weight placed upon the plug member, substantially as descrlbed.

8. In an electrical connection of the class Inl testimony whereof, I have signed my name to'this specification in the presence of two subscribino' Witnesses.

c OHAN M. ANDERSILN.v Witnesses:

JAS. H. CHURCHILL,

J. M.'MURPHY. 

